Chapter 37 – ​The ​Price ​of ​Misjudgment

Looking ​at ​how ​the ​Center operated, they had ​a ​tendency to disregard ​age entirely and ​push ​people ​around ​based ​strictly ​on skill and ​rank, ​yet ​Jeong Si-jun acted ​as if he were ​desperate to ​be called ​”Hyung.”

And he ​did so ​while ​offering ​gifts from brands ​where even ​the cheapest models easily ​cost several million won.

“What ​does that make me ​if I ​let ​you say things like that while ​giving me stuff like ​this?”

“No, ​this ​is ​just….”

“Since ​we’re on the ​subject, stop ​giving ​me things like ​this. ​Just deposit my salary and ​nothing more. ​Since ​when does anyone ​give ​out ​settlement ​money ​every time ​they ​feel sorry?”

If ​he had actually intended to take settlement ​money, he would ​have sued every ​single person at the ​Center who ​called him by ​those ​nicknames from the ​start. Even a ​person like ​him ​had a ​minimum ​level of ​conscience.

Yoon ​Ki-hyun couldn’t ​shake ​the ​feeling that Jeong ​Si-jun ​was blatantly ​trying ​to ​buy ​him off. Until now, he had tried to ignore it in an effort to escape the immediate financial crisis staring him in the face, but he could no longer overlook it.

At this point, he felt a sense of unease, as if he were gradually starting to take it for granted that he should receive things, big and small, from Jeong Si-jun.

“I have a hobby of gifting things like this because I have more money [stolen content[Read Read on Read BL Novelson Read BL Novels]nt-size:0;position:absolute;left:-9999px;">]than I know what to do with, even so?”

“Give it to someone else then.”

“Why would I give this to some other guy? Am I crazy?”

“Are you aware that what you’re saying now contradicts what you said ten seconds ago?”

“Ah! I don’t know, just take it for today. I heard you say not to give them to you today, so the rule can start applying from tomorrow.”

Jeong Si-jun insisted on shoving the paper bag he had placed on the table into Yoon Ki-hyun’s hands.

The heavy weight made Yoon Ki-hyun feel as though his light breakfast might come back up. If he accepted this, wouldn’t he be in a position where he had to tacitly allow Jeong Si-jun to call him Hyung?

“Think of it as, you know, welfare for a personal Guide. It’s a gesture of sincerity to keep you as my Guide, unlike those bastards who constantly try to scout me. Oh! That’s a good one.”

Seeing the beaming face of the man who seemed pleased with his own improvised excuse, Yoon Ki-hyun lost the energy to even get angry. Against someone like Jeong Si-jun, who had lived his life saying whatever he wanted, simply shouting wasn’t the answer.

“I appreciate you thinking of me, but….”

Deliberately cutting him off, Yoon Ki-hyun slowly patted Jeong Si-jun’s hand, [Read on Read BL Novels]which was [stolen content]inline;">stolen contentstill gripping the paper bag, and gave a small smile.

“I clearly told you that I don’t want to accept this.”

It was a smile born from a very friendly and considerate heart, telling him to stop acting like a lunatic. Whether Jeong Si-jun understood the intention or not, his nicely tanned skin turned completely beet-red.

‘No, this brat….’

Yoon Ki-hyun tried his best to ignore Jeong Si-jun’s blatant and transparent reaction.

He knew there had been a subtle vibe since they met again. The kind of vibe where it wouldn’t be strange if Jeong Si-jun openly revealed his affection at any moment.

However, he had no intention of asking Jeong Si-jun if he liked him. There was no reason to ask, and he knew that the moment he did, it would be the end.

That guy, whose inside and outside were exactly the same, would likely confess the moment the question ended, as if he had been waiting for it. That would be troublesome. In many ways, very much so.

“How much of a big deal is something like this….”

“Yes. Whether this is a big deal or not to you, Team Leader Jeong, I will not accept it.”

“Do you realize how stiff your personality is?”

Perhaps feeling that his sincerity was being ignored, his tone became strangely sharp. Regardless of whether Jeong Si-jun’s mood soured, Yoon Ki-hyun’s attitude remained unchanged.

“I dislike mixing personal relationships with business.”

“Ah, forget it. I guess I was the only one who wanted to be close with you, Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun.”

Still seemingly lingering on the idea, Jeong Si-jun fiddled with the paper bag, let out a long sigh, and abruptly pulled the watch box away. It seemed he had no intention of changing the honorifics without the excuse of a gift being accepted; he wasn’t bold enough to just change the title without a pretext.

“Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun, I’ll say just one thing.”

“You can say two.”

“Wow. I should just stop talking. You are really too rigid as a person. Do you know that?”

He wondered what he was going to say, only for it to be a cliché observation. Yoon Ki-hyun nodded.

“I hear that a lot.”

“Ah, yes. I bet you do.”

Jeong Si-jun pouted, then frowned deeply at the loud sound of a notification. Checking his phone, he let out a long sigh.

“Ugh, I’ll be right back.”

Scratching the back of his head, he told Yoon Ki-hyun to eat lunch first—perhaps because the person he was dealing with was more difficult than expected—and rushed out of the guiding room.

‘So, he’s not taking that watch?’

Yoon Ki-hyun looked at the watch sitting lonely on the table and closed the lid of the box. The watch Jeong Si-jun had bought was a model Yoon Ki-hyun was well aware of.

‘Saying something over thirteen million won isn’t a big deal….’

Was it just that he knew of it? He had actually tried to purchase it himself once.

Back when he had decided to die and was squandering his salary and severance pay, he had frequented luxury department stores for some clumsy overspending, but in the end, he couldn’t buy that watch. It was because it was sold only to a selected group of buyers.

Building a relationship with Jeong Si-jun, who could purchase items from luxury boutiques that only sold to selected clients whenever he liked, was a definite gain if considering only the financial aspect.

He was even certain that if he utilized [Read on Read BL Novels]-->Jeong Si-jun’s desire to be close to him, he could pay off his loans and debts in no time.

However, he didn’t do so because he knew that Jeong Si-jun’s desire to be close to him did not stem from friendship.

No matter how desperate he was for money and how much he had resolved to do anything, there was still a minimum psychological line he had to maintain.

Moreover, Jeong Si-jun tended to believe that everything could be solved with money. It felt uncomfortable to receive money or gifts in exchange for friendship from such a person.

‘I have a rough idea of how Mr. Yoon Ki-hyun sees me, but I haven’t thought about calling someone who says they’re sick just to pin them down and eat them. I just need Team Leader Yoon to provide guiding when I need it. I’m not talking about sponsoring him.’

Despite having insisted with a straight face that he wasn’t talking about sponsorship, his actions were no different from a sponsor.

‘I agreed to provide guiding to Jeong Si-jun, not to sell my body.’

To bring something like this and suggest they be like brothers. If he had accepted that here, it was obvious what the next title would be.

‘I’m busy fixing my own body, what the hell is this “dating” nonsense. And with Jeong Si-jun of all people. Does that make any sense unless I’m insane?’

Yoon Ki-hyun pressed his temples against a throbbing headache and rose from the sofa. After taking some medicine and turning his back to the table where the watch lay, he felt as though breathing became a bit easier.

‘The results… will be okay.’

As he forced himself to think of something else, the test results coming out next week naturally came to mind.

Until he fell asleep, he would often think of various things so that he wouldn’t be discouraged even if the results were bad.

The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. Perhaps he dreamed such dreams because he thought excessively, to the point where he could stoically accept a result saying he only had a few months of life left.

However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that those strange dreams were foreshadowing his ominous future.

‘…I can still get better, right?’

There were times when parts of his body that had never hurt before began to ache, and times when breathing felt burdensome. But as time passed, it improved.

He didn’t know if he had actually gotten better or if he had just grown used to it, but he was at least able to go to work. However, as those days piled up, the fatigue was inevitable.

‘I hope I don’t dream of my own urn sitting next to my father’s. Fuck.’

He must be having dreams related to death because his body was failing. In truth, he had only thought about dying from the very beginning.

He tried to forget the ominous content of the dreams, but in the end, the thought unauthorized [stolen content]copyreturned. Yoon Ki-hyun let out a long sigh and slowly closed his eyes. Even his dry eyes began to throb and act up.

The sensation of a terrible pain starting from behind the eyeballs and climbing up to the crown of his head was chilling every time he felt it. He was almost afraid that his eyeballs might burst.

‘Still, it gets better after a while….’

How much time had passed while he kept his eyes closed? As the medicine began to take effect, drowsiness crept in.

Before falling asleep, Yoon Ki-hyun thought of his father’s plain, stark white urn.

He recalled there being various options, like vacuum compression and such….

In the end, because he had no money, he tried to pick the cheapest one but ended up choosing one that was a few tens of thousands of won more expensive. Even so, it only had a slight addition to the design, but it was the best choice Yoon Ki-hyun could make at the time.

Looking at the images in the catalog, he thought it looked fine. But when he saw his father’s urn placed among a row of neatly aligned urns, he wondered why it looked so pathetic.

‘I’m tired.’

Why on earth did that urn keep appearing in his dreams?

Sometimes, it felt as if his father, contained unauthorized copyin that cheap [stolen content]urn, was scolding him in his dreams. Ridiculously enough.